PATIENCE.

"Patience, my lord! why, 't is the soul of peace;
Of all the virtues 't is the nearest kin to heaven;
It makes men look like gods: the best of men
That e'er wore earth about him, was a sufferer,
A soft, meek, patient, tranquil spirit,
The first true gentleman that ever breathed."

"E'en the best must own,

Patience and resignation are the pillars

Of human peace on earth.”

Young.

Decker.

"How poor are they that have not Patience!
What wound did ever heal but by degrees?"

Shakspeare.

"Let Patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and

entire, wanting nothing."

James i. 4.

CHAPTER IX.

Patience and her Adventures.

WHERE

of the DIVINE MOTHER whose name is PATIENCE. And a very singular person she is. It is difficult to tell whom she most resembles, or to whom most unlike. She seems to be a being by herself, unique in her disposition and ways. And yet her relationship to the rest of the group is sufficiently apparent to all.

It is generally thought that she is most like INDUSTRY, and least like ZEAL. But respecting this, as well as many other points, opinions are not agreed. Perfectly at rest, she appears to have a slight resemblance to her brother TRUTH. When she smiles she looks a little like CHARITY; and most like MERCY when she weeps.

She is very quiet, inoffensive, unobtrusive, and amiable: a perfect stranger to passion, jealousy, and revenge. She was never known

to become impatient, to fret, or to scold. She endeavors to get along with difficulties in the easiest possible way to others, and to herself. If she is disappointed, it would never be known by any loss of temper, or ill-humored expression of her face. If she is grieved, she weeps silently, and alone, making no great ado about it, and always has deeper feeling than one would infer from her expression. If she is injured, she never complains, nor seems in a hurry to have the offender brought to punishment.

PATIENCE has a good share of the temperament, and a little of the looks, of her sister FAITH; and usually appears to have more enjoyment in the society of FAITH, than with any other member of the family. She always goes to her sister FAITH for consolation and advice, when she is in trouble. Somehow or other FAITH and PATIENCE have always manifested more than usual regard for one another; yet any one can easily see that PATIENCE thinks more of FAITH, than FAITH of PATIENCE. yet the probability is that FAITH has as much need of PATIENCE, as PATIENCE has of FAITH. Though these two sisters are on rather more than usually intimate terms, yet PATIENCE has

And

always managed to be on excellent terms with all: if there have ever been any high words, or unpleasant contentions in the family, it is certain that PATIENCE was never the first offender. She would rather be called a coward than quarrelsome; and she would prefer to be injured herself than to injure anybody else.

PATIENCE frequently has a languid look, and speaks usually with a feeble voice, as though she were somewhat infirm or weary. And yet she appears to be in pretty comfortable health; certainly she is not much in the habit of complaining. Her somewhat languid look, and her feeble voice, are probably occasioned, not so much by the feebleness of her health, as by the uniform complacency of her mind, and her exceeding mildness of disposition.

PATIENCE is by no means either sickly or imbecile; she is, in some respects, the most capable member of the family. In some things she is remarkably strong, and exhibits astonishing powers of endurance. And she has considerable courage, too, as well as ordinary strength. But as her strength is less adapted to doing than enduring, so her courage is less adapted to danger than to suffering. Her goodness ap

pears to be less active than passive. She is better qualified to be than to do.

But PATIENCE is by no means destitute of excellent positive qualities. She has habitual self-government, and uniform equanimity of temper. Like CHARITY, she suffers long, and is kind. Like TRUTH, she is deliberate, prudent, and intelligent. Like FAITH, she possesses implicit confidence in the Divine promises, and reposes upon them as upon a pillow of down. Like INDUSTRY, she remains steadily and uncomplainingly wherever duty demands. Like MERCY, she is very affectionate and careful of the feelings of other people. Like JUSTICE, she always, and from principle, endeavors to be upright and equitable. Like HOPE, she is expecting that everything will finally work out for the best; and, with HOPE, and with better self-control, she is calmly waiting for the wished for period to come.

And PATIENCE is also very obliging in her disposition. She was never yet desired to render appropriate assistance, without complying with the request. When TRUTH is engaged in collecting materials to build some magnificent ideal edifice, that shall stand safely amidst all